The retail holiday season is already in full swing. For many retailers the true indicator of how the season will go starts on Thanksgiving, and Black Friday results come in. The retail research firm ShopperTrak estimated that shoppers spent $11.2 billion at physical stores on Black Friday this year, which represented a 1.8% decline from Black Friday 2011. Still, 90%+ of our clients exceeded their projections for those critical days, which signals that the 2012 holiday season should be a strong one for many retailers. As I was reflecting on how we were able to influence results it really came down to 3 things; Preparation, Agility, and People; The PAP Strategy. These 3 key elements drove the success of the season, and I’m confident that no matter what the external factors are that these 3 factors drive the success or failure of any brand, or agencies during the season.

Sometimes, something that sounds too good to be true actually isn't. Paid Search (or Search Engine Marketing) really is one of the most effective and cost-efficient forms of advertising currently available. Read why I love Paid Search.

We’ve all seen them. The email newsletters that scream “Top Five Ways to Get More Facebook Fans in Five Minutes”. Or the Blog post, “Top Five Secrets to Gaining More Search Traffic”. Hell, I was in a retail merchant chain that will remain unnamed (let’s just say it rhymes with Margret, but without the r at the end and you add a T at the beginning) and while I was waiting to buy my discounted Halloween candy to binge and purge while watching Boardwalk Empire, I was stricken by the fact that Top Five lists surrounded me everywhere. “Top five weightloss tricks”…”Top Five Ways to Please your lover (BTW I would be fine with all five). And even “Top Five Reasons to vote this November”. So given that apparently this is a phenomenon I know nothing about, I says to myself, why not write a blog.
So without further adieux, here we go.
Josh Minnick’s Top Five Ways to Write a Top Five List – The secret to increasing open rates, engagement, paid search, sales, reducing CPA and increasing ROI and other really good keywords for Google Caffeine.
Number 1 – Humans are simple creatures. The politically correct answer is... Read more

Do you have that nervous feeling in your stomach? Sweaty palms? Is your heart racing? If you're an SEO agency, these symptoms may be a result of Google's looming Caffeine update. No, not the kind in your coffee; in this case, Caffeine refers to the latest Google algorithm update.
Although Google announced the update in August 2009, the updated version is currently only running on one data center, half of the time. The lag between the announcement of the release and the full implementation has lulled many SEO specialists into a sense of complacency, and indeed the buzz surrounding Caffeine has all but faded away. With Google withholding on a timeline for complete implementation, predicting the effects and implications of Caffeine is bit like fortune telling. However, by using the information Google has released about Caffeine in conjunction with their current focus, a few forecasts can be made.
Caffeine is primarily an infrastructure update. Expanded indexing, increased relevance, and increased speed are all the main effects of the revamped algorithm. These are the changes that won't be visible to the average user but will make Google faster and more relevant. From the SEO perspective, the question... Read more